Good Morning NUNAverse,
On Monday, the National Indian Health Board wrote a letter calling for the Atlanta baseball franchise to change its name and to acknowledge the harmful nature of the continued use of Native inspired imagery. The letter was written by Stacy A. Bohlen (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe), the organization’s chief operating officer. Bohlen addressed the letter to Terry McGuirk, chairman of the Atlanta franchise and Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. Bohlen cites the study, “The psychosocial effects of Native American mascots: a comprehensive review of empirical research findings”, released in June 2020, that says Native mascots “in particular lower self-esteem, lower community worth, less capacity to generate achievement-related possible selves, and greater levels of negative effect.” Bohlen suggests Major League Baseball and the Atlanta franchise should follow in the footsteps of the Cleveland baseball team that changed its name from the “Indians” at the conclusion of this past baseball season and will be known as the Cleveland Guardians next year.
A North Dakota-based organization sued Colorado this week for a measure banning Native-themed school mascots which was passed last year. The lawsuit by the nonprofit Native American Guardian’s Association was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, naming Governor Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, and Kathryn Redhorse, the executive director of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs. The firm is representing a John Doe, Jane Doe and three other Colorado residents who cite Native American heritage in the lawsuit. The organization’s lawsuit argues that the Colorado law is unconstitutional and “unlawfully enacts state-sanctioned race discrimination” against the Native residents the association is representing.
Manuelito Wheeler, the director of the Navajo Nation Museum, isn’t sure exactly why Navajo elders admire Western films. It could be that many of them were treated to the films in boarding schools off the reservation decades ago. Or, like his father, they told stories of gathering around a television growing up to watch gunslingers in a battle against good and evil on familiar-looking landscapes. Whatever the reason, Navajo elders have been asking Wheeler to dub a Western in the Navajo language ever since “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” was translated into Navajo and released in 2013. The result? “Béeso Dah Yiníłjaa’” or “A Fistful of Dollars,” an iconic Western starring Clint Eastwood who plays a stranger — known as “The Man With No Name” — was recently dubbed by Wheeler. A premiere for the crew and all-Navajo cast of voice actors is scheduled for November 16 at the movie theater in Window Rock, Arizona.
Keep reading for a full news update.
Native Mascots:
National Indian Health Board Calls On The Atlanta Braves To Drop The Name And Tomahawk Chop
Native News Online, November 4
On Monday, the first day of Native American Heritage Month and a day before Atlanta Braves won the World Series, the National Indian Health Board wrote a letter calling for the Atlanta baseball franchise to change its name and calling for the team to acknowledge the harmful nature of the continued use of Native inspired imagery. The letter was written by Stacy A. Bohlen (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe), the organization’s chief operating officer. Bohlen addressed the letter to Terry McGuirk, chairman of the Atlanta Braves and Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. Bohlen cites the study, The psychosocial effects of Native American mascots: a comprehensive review of empirical research findings, released in June 2020 that says Native mascots “in particular lower self-esteem, lower community worth, less capacity to generate achievement-related possible selves, and greater levels of negative effect.” Bohlen suggests Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves should follow in the footsteps of the Cleveland baseball team that changed its name from the “Indians” at the conclusion of this past baseball season and will be known as the Cleveland Guardians next year.
Native Mascots:
Group Sues Colorado Over Law Banning Native American Mascots
AP News, November 4
A North Dakota-based organization representing Native Americans sued Colorado this week for a measure banning American Indian school mascots which was passed last year amid a nationwide push for racial justice following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. The lawsuit by the nonprofit Native American Guardian’s Association was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, naming Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser and Kathryn Redhorse, the executive director of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs. The firm is representing a John Doe, Jane Doe and three other Colorado residents who cite Native American heritage in the lawsuit. The organization’s lawsuit argues that the Colorado law is unconstitutional and “unlawfully enacts state-sanctioned race discrimination” against the Native American residents the association is representing.
IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk On Why Hollywood Needs A Guide To Native American Representation
Variety, Katie Song, November 4
Timed with Native American Heritage Month, IllumiNative, a Native-led, women-led nonprofit, has released a Native American industry guide addressed to studios and production companies everywhere. The guide outlines the best practices for increasing Native representation in television and film in ways that are both positive and accurate. The industry guide titled “The Time Is Now: The Power of Native Representation in Entertainment” extensively outlines the many facets of accurate storytelling, from data that expresses popular interest in seeing more Native stories to “understanding the basics” and deconstructing widely-held biases. The guide also encourages production teams to include Native creatives on their teams, not just consult them. “Now, we can see what happens when you put indigenous creatives in the process, when they are leading, you get wonderful stories, stories that audiences gravitate towards,” said Echo Hawk, referring to the popular shows Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls.
Politics:
Cheyenne And Arapaho Leader Elected To Second Term
Gaylord News, November 3
Cheyenne and Arapaho Gov. Reggie Wassana and Lt. Gov. Gib Miles won the Nov. 2 general election by a landslide, the first time the tribe has reelected its governor. The Wassana and Miles team received about 72 percent of the vote, while their opponents — Wilma Blackbear and Roberta Hamilton, received 28 percent of the 1,887 votes cast. The announcement was made in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 on the tribe’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Other:
NCAI President Fawn Sharp Becomes First Ever Elected Tribal Leader To Receive U.S. State Department Diplomatic Credentials
Native News Online, November 4
The U.S. Department of State on Wednesday announced National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Fawn Sharp has been credentialed as a delegate during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) that is currently in session in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Sharp becomes the first tribal leader elected exclusively by tribal citizens to receive diplomatic recognition in history from the United States. The international COP26 summit that began on Sunday in Glasgow comes at a critical juncture where all nations and communities must find consensus to address one of the world’s climate crisis. Tribal nations and Indigenous communities globally have a different and unique sense of land and place rooted in, and often dependent upon, their environment and local natural resources for cultural practices, traditions, community, food, economies, and ways of life.
Climate Change Forces Native American Tribes To Relocate
CBS News, Ben Tracy, November 4
The Quileute Tribe in western Washington has lost land before. It once called vast swaths of the Olympic Peninsula home until the late 1800s when the U.S. government confined it to just one square mile pressed up against the Pacific Ocean. The reservation is prone to flooding and tsunamis. The Quileute’s tribal village, home to about 400 people, is now threatened by the Pacific’s rising waters due to climate change. Storms are getting more severe and pushing dangerous debris into town and consuming the tribe’s land. Alice Ryan, a science teacher, said it’s “shocking” how fast climate change is having an effect on their land. “It’s literally taking parts of the Quileute Tribe’s land and washing it out to the ocean,” Ryan said. With climate change arriving on the doorstep of their school, the tribe is building a new one on top of a hill far away from rising ocean waters. Congress gave permission to use national parkland near the new school for a new tribal village if the Quileute have to abandon their homes near the coast. It’s a fate shared by tribes from Alaska to Florida.
Natives In New York: Museum Shows Highlight History, Future
Indian Country Today, Sandra Hale Schulman, November 4
Two contrasting exhibits at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and at the Museum of Modern Art PS1 in Long Island City, give colorful views of what Manhattan was for Natives centuries ago and what Native artists are creating there now. The MoMA Ps 1 show, “Greater New York,” a survey of artists living and working in the New York City area, returns for its fifth edition from Oct. 7 to April 18, 2022. Artwork by Indigenous artists is given strong placement in work ranging from sculpture to painting to film and installation. Down at the stately Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, located inside the George Gustav Heye Center, a new long-term exhibition, “Native New York,” opened Oct. 25. Designed for all age groups, the exhibition takes viewers on a journey to 12 significant places in New York, reaching from the sandy shores of Long Island through Manhattan to thundering Niagara Falls.
Iconic Western Starring Clint Eastwood Dubbed In Navajo
AP News, Felicia Fonseca, November 4
Manuelito Wheeler isn’t sure exactly why Navajo elders admire Western films. It could be that many of them were treated to the films in boarding schools off the reservation decades ago. Or, like his father, they told stories of gathering around a television growing up to watch gunslingers in a battle against good and evil on familiar-looking landscapes. Whatever the reason, Navajo elders have been asking Wheeler to dub a Western in the Navajo language ever since “Star Wars IV: A New Hope” was translated into Navajo and released in 2013. The result? “Béeso Dah Yiníłjaa’” or “A Fistful of Dollars,” an iconic Western starring Clint Eastwood who plays a stranger — known as “The Man With No Name” — entering a Mexican village among a power struggle between families. The 1964 flick is the first in a trilogy of spaghetti Westerns produced and directed by Italians.
Some Push Back On Joe Biden’s Plan To Reduce Methane Emissions
Indian Country Today, November 4
Republicans in North Dakota are denouncing a plan by the Biden administration to reduce methane emissions while some tribal citizens are applauding the proposal. President Joe Biden announced the plan on Tuesday at a United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said there is no need for more regulations because it would drive energy production overseas. The plan calls for working with other nations to reduce overall methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The centerpiece of U.S. actions is a long-awaited rule by the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten methane regulations for the oil and gas sector, as laid out in one of Biden’s first executive orders.